1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to pump-less inflation device that operates using consecutive chemical reactions. The present disclosure also relates to a method of inflating an inflatable object using the inflation device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
Many objects require air pressure to function. These objects include car tires, air mattresses, inflatable boats, air bags, and life preservers. Therefore, many different types of inflation devices have been invented for inflation purposes. Some of the most common devices include manual air pumps (foot or hand activated pumps), electric air pumps, and compressed air pumps. While manual and compressed air pumps may be portable, the portable versions are typically used to inflate smaller objects. Electric pumps on the other hand, tend not to be portable, and even in instances where they are portable, they nonetheless require access to an electrical source. Further, all of these developed inflation systems function by pumping atmospheric air into the inflatable object. Oxygen gas is an oxidant and will over time corrode and rot materials that make up the inflatable object, such as the rubber used in common car tires. Another downside of using atmospheric oxygen, is that oxygen has a fast rate of diffusion, causing the inflated object to lose pressure at a fast rate.
With this in mind, inflation devices using a chemical reaction have been disclosed, which produce a gas such as nitrogen or carbon dioxide to overcome the problems associated with molecular oxygen. These inflation devices can be used to inflate large or small objects depending on the amounts of chemicals utilized, and are therefore portable alternatives to manual pumps and compressed gas pumps. Similar to airbag inflation technology, these inflation devices work by mechanically or electrically igniting a chemical, for instance with a striker or igniter, to produce a volume of gas which then inflates an object. One such strategy involves mechanically lighting an azide to produce nitrogen gas [Garner, E. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,241A; Millray, R. U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,288A; Ball, D. et al. EP467594A1—each incorporated by reference in its entirety]. Further, Schuurbiers, C. et al. [WO2012108764A1—incorporated herein by reference in its entirety] disclosed a device the uses an electrical igniter to decompose a CO2-generating compound.
However, none of these strategies provide an inflation device that uses molecular oxygen as the ignition source, whereby molecular oxygen initiates consecutive chemical reactions to produce an inflation gas. By using molecular oxygen as the ignition source, no bulky or expensive mechanical or electrical strikers are needed to initiate the inflation system.
In view of the forgoing, the present invention relates to a portable inflation device and an inflation method using consecutive chemical reactions to generate a nitrogen inflation gas using atmospheric oxygen as the ignition source.